The Vatican has announced that a plenary indulgence will be granted to those who visit sick, lonely, or disabled elderly people on the fourth annual World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly on July 28.
The Apostolic Penitentiary, led by Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, issued a decree on July 18 granting this indulgence.
Grandparents, the elderly, and those who participate in religious functions related to the celebration can also receive a plenary indulgence. According to the decree, this indulgence may also be applied to the souls in purgatory.
The Vatican stated that those unable to leave their homes due to illness or other serious reasons can obtain the indulgence by spiritually joining the day’s celebrations and offering their prayers, pains, or sufferings. The indulgence applies to those who “unite themselves spiritually to the sacred functions” broadcast through the media.
Pope Francis established the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly in 2021, celebrated on the Sunday closest to the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne. This year’s theme, “Do Not Cast Me Off in My Old Age,” taken from Psalm 71, shows the Pope’s desire to highlight the loneliness many elderly face, often victims of the “throwaway culture.”
Are there any other requirements for being granted an indulgence by the Church? Most definitely. Indulgences cannot be gained by the sheer acts alone listed above, or by saying prayers as if they were magic spells.
The granting of indulgences are predicated on the internal disposition of the person and by meeting the three prerequisites: Sacramental Confession, Holy Communion, and Prayer for the Intentions of the Pope. All must be performed within days of each other if not at the same time. Additionally, one must be free from all attachment to sin. What does that mean? Freedom from attachment to sin does not mean freedom from all sin – that would be impossible. Rather, it means there must be no sin the soul is not willing to renounce, possibly the most difficult requirement.
“An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints” – Catechism of the Catholic Church 1471
If any of the above four conditions aren’t meant, you can still receive a partial indulgence – a partial remission of the temporal punishment associated with sin.
“An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.” – CCC 1471Â
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